JACKSON, MI – If you want to know where the best food deals are in town right now, just ask Jackson High School students.

They’ve been shopping the grocery stores for weeks.

It’s all part of the annual Thanksgiving Giving project, which helps those less fortunate put food on the table not just during the holidays but every day.

On Wednesday, the 61,430 non-perishable food items students collected this year were loaded into a truck and taken to the Jackson Salvation Army for distribution in food baskets.

“It kind of blows your mind, especially because you know some of the kids in our school are going to be getting this food,” said JHS senior Madelyn Bellew, student government president. “The generosity of our school just floors you.”

To gather this food, which has filled offices, hallways and classrooms for weeks, students sought donations door-to-door in their neighborhoods and from local stores and businesses.

Many also dug deep into their own pockets, said Principal Barbara Baird-Pauli.

“This is a lesson in selflessness and serving the community,” Baird-Pauli said. “And our students truly invest themselves in caring for others.”

Any cash they were given was used by the students to purchase actual food items.

“It’s such a big thing to know that everyone can do something to help, whether it’s a couple cans or a lot,” Bellew said. “It feels awesome.”

Students were concerned their efforts wouldn’t match those of previous years because of the higher cost of food, Bellew said.

“We used to get four cans for a dollar, but this year 50 cents a can was the best we could do,” she said. “Everyone worked really hard to make the money count.”

The Thanksgiving Giving program is led by student government with help from the Viking Pride leadership teams from each class. There’s also a friendly competition among the classes to see who can bring in the most food. The seniors won this year with more than 19,000 items collected.

“We couldn’t do any of this without this community’s help and support,” Bellew said.